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Jul 28th, 2025
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 5
Boxlock
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Boxlock
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 5 |
For the record my favorite book, and I don't believe there are any or many firearms in it, is "The Earth Abides" by George R. Stewart 1949.
Good subject, keep them coming and I can stock up for the winter.
Michael, Thanks for the reminder, I've read it about eight times over the years, about time to pick up the hammer again. Don't forget, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain (1889). and if you never came across it, "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen" by H. Beam Piper (1965) does feature firearms. Bob
Bob Roberts
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 66
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 66 |
S-T & MP, the Donald Hamilton of Camp Perry/Navy Pistol Team fame and the Donald Hamilton of note as author of the Matt Helm series, etc are in fact two different individuals with the same name. The shooter was a friend of a friend (also a Navy shooter now deceased) and the author was a casual shooter who moved to Scandinavia many years ago and has recently passed away there. You can Google the name and find a lot about the latter, and I'm sure some things will also show up about the former. BTW, DH the writer wrote some great Westerns including one that was made into a movie, "The Big Country" and one that would fit right in with this board, "The Two Shoot Gun." I highly recommend both. As for Gerald Hammond, he is a national treasure for Scotland and his books hold a place of honor at my home. I would like to have Deborah do some engraving for me, and a couple of my shotguns could stand some work by Keith. They look like Uncle Ron got hold of them. If the preceding makes no sense to the reader, you really should get Hammond's books about Keith Calder!!  Thanks, Michael for bringing up such a fun topic! Oh yeah, I like JM Pyne as well, and wish he could rebarrel this Ballard Pacific for me!!  Froggie PS I just remembered, DH the author wrote for Outdoor Life or some such and had a compilation of that work published in paperback as "Donald Hamilton on Guns and Hunting." He also did a pretty good book on sailing called "Cruises with Kathleen" or some such, if memory serves. GF
Last edited by Green Frog; 09/01/09 05:25 PM.
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,100 Likes: 43
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,100 Likes: 43 |
An author I came across just this summer tells great stories about a policeman/ detective in Nazi Germany. Phillip Kerr knows the firearms of WW11 as well the era's overall history . Berlin Noir is the one to start with.
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,153
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,153 |
Great stuff here, thanks all.
Joe, The last Wilbur Smith is great, one of the main characters is Kermit Roosevelt. I don't know the name because it's lost somewhere in the house but if you have not read it I can send it your way if you will return same. But first I have to find it ;-).
Good subject, keep them coming and I can stock up for the winter.
Michael, I'll happily accept your most kind offer! And, more importantly, I'll return it promptly with no changes to it! BTW most of the following remain in my permanent library and are available to you for loan if wanted. One of the things I like best about Donald Hamilton's books (aside from their technical excellence) is that his protagonists aren't trying to save the world, they're just matter-of-factly getting the job done. Elmore Leonard is another fine and knowledgeable author whose westerns and crime novels of 20th century Detroit showcase his firearms knowledge. J.C.Pollock is an ex-SF Operator who knows his spook stuff inside and out, well worth reading. Clay Harvey is another good suspense writer who knows guns and features them in his works. William R. Forstchen and Eric Flint both write very interesting alternate history books featuring firearms in a knowledgeable, entertaining and educational way. Harry Turtledove is OK but his works are quite fomulaic and thus eventually boring to some degree if you read enough of them. Tony Hillerman (modern 4-Corners area) is excellent but not much gun stuff there, ditto Dick Francis (UK steeplechase) and Arthur Upfield (Australia), all are/were superlative storytellers but specific gun mentions are rare. Check out John Sandford ( Prey series) and Andrew Vachss (Burke series), both know their short-range gun stuff and don't pull punches. James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux) and James Carlos Blake ( The Friends of Pancho Villa, The Pistoleer) are simply outstanding, they write like they've really been there. These are a few of the series writers who feature guns in a good way, there are many more gun-oriented singletons and pairs spaced among them on my shelves. Regards, Joe
You can lead a man to logic but you can't make him think. NRA Life since 1976. God bless America!
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,026
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,026 |
A very interesting topic; Southern CA is NO paradise for the shooter or hunter but it IS a place where you can find any book, cheap. I have taken notes....
Michael et al: interesting mentions of "Earth Abides." I had the honor of knowing Professor Stewart quite well, or as well as a young squirt can know a scholar and writer at the top of his game. He served on my doctoral comprehensive exam at Berkeley, covering the topic of Evolutionary Theory in American Lit., and later was on the review committee for my dissertation and a source of information for it. He was an old-fashioned gentleman; gentle enough, and very much his own man in a English department famous for wearing people out.
"Earth Abides" is what I would call a "curiously reassuring book," like the book of the Bible from which its title is drawn (I'm no Bible pounder, but as I age, I find myself drawn to "Ecclesiastes" often...) I like it better than Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," (which I must admit I read in one sitting. tho). Pandemic, it is always with us, like "Fire," and "Storm," two other books of his. I read "Fire" right after helping fight a huge "campaign fire," something every young man should get a chance to do.
My dissertation was on an Oregon novelist and poet, H.L. Davis. He was the nephew of a very innovative Oregon gunsmith whose name slips my mind at the moment, and a relative of the pioneer Applegate clan, one of whom was also an innovative Oregon gunsmith the last time I looked (Robert). If you look at Davis' work, his most famous book (Pulitzer in 1935, to the horror of the contemporary Left) was "Honey in the Horn." The book to start with, if you can find it, is "Winds of Morning," tho. He knew his guns, but better yet, he knew his folks and the natural world.
Excuse me, thanks to you guys, I got more books to look for!
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881 |
Joe,
I've read all of Elmore Leonard and just finished rereading "KillShot".
Same with with Tony Hillerman and Andrew Vachss, a few on your list I have not read, thanks.
Andrew Vachss was talking at a local book store here in Anchorage so my daughter who is also a Vachess fan and I attended. He asked the audience of less than fifty how many had ever fired a firearm, I think every hand it the room when up. He thought we misunderstood the question, I said he misunderstood where he was. A very intelligent and articulate man who has done a lot for abused children.
MP Sadly Deceased as of 2/17/2014
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881 |
A very interesting topic; Southern CA is NO paradise for the shooter or hunter but it IS a place where you can find any book, cheap. I have taken notes....
Michael et al: interesting mentions of "Earth Abides." I had the honor of knowing Professor Stewart quite well, or as well as a young squirt can know a scholar and writer at the top of his game. He served on my doctoral comprehensive exam at Berkeley, covering the topic of Evolutionary Theory in American Lit., and later was on the review committee for my dissertation and a source of information for it. He was an old-fashioned gentleman; gentle enough, and very much his own man in a English department famous for wearing people out.
"Earth Abides" is what I would call a "curiously reassuring book," like the book of the Bible from which its title is drawn (I'm no Bible pounder, but as I age, I find myself drawn to "Ecclesiastes" often...) I like it better than Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," (which I must admit I read in one sitting. tho). Pandemic, it is always with us, like "Fire," and "Storm," two other books of his. I read "Fire" right after helping fight a huge "campaign fire," something every young man should get a chance to do.
My dissertation was on an Oregon novelist and poet, H.L. Davis. He was the nephew of a very innovative Oregon gunsmith whose name slips my mind at the moment, and a relative of the pioneer Applegate clan, one of whom was also an innovative Oregon gunsmith the last time I looked (Robert). If you look at Davis' work, his most famous book (Pulitzer in 1935, to the horror of the contemporary Left) was "Honey in the Horn." The book to start with, if you can find it, is "Winds of Morning," tho. He knew his guns, but better yet, he knew his folks and the natural world. Excuse me, thanks to you guys, I got more books to look for! Well how great is this...Here I thought no one would have heard of a 1949 book and find you knew the author well. Like (Bob) HARIII eight times sounds about right for me as well. To be honest I never took the time to learn anything about Mr. Stewart so I thank you for the information.
MP Sadly Deceased as of 2/17/2014
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 678 Likes: 15
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 678 Likes: 15 |
A recent re-read of Steinbeck's "Travels With Charlie" reminded me that he was no shrinking violet around guns. He carried a couple inside "Rosinante" and plinked occasionaly during his journey.
Phhhtt!
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,026
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,026 |
The Oregon Gunsmith I was losing in the La Brea tarpits of my memory was Gus Perret (sp?). Did some wondrous things with SAAs and others.
On the topic of tar pits, if any of you ever get talked into the Museum Tour of LA and HAVE to go to the LA Museum of Modern Art (LACMA) or lose whatever privileges your spouse or significant other still allows you, you have two "counter-offer bargaining chips" handy. One is the Auto Museum close by (good but not my thing), the other is the La Brea Tar Pits museum right next door. Ice Age Mega Fauna--the game we "narrowly missed" but were born to hunt! Ground sloths of all flavors, 15,000# mastodons, Dire Wolves, American Lions, American Camels, Antique Bison (bigger, better horns), Merriams Condor (bigger and better than California; could digest lead...OK, I lied about that), and the favorite: ol' Smilodon hisself. And La Brea Woman!
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 704
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 704 |
Harry Turtledove's The Guns of the South is, IMO, a classic.
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